Supporting means for bearings and the like



March 9 e. L. SAUNDERS 3,431,034

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR BEARINGS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 24, 1967 March 4, 1969 G. L. SAUNDERS 3,431,034

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR BEARINGS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 24, 1967 Sheet 2 [Wm mg.

M XZ/amya Unitcd States Patent SUPPORTING ME laims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adjustable supports for mill trunnions, in which pistons are adjustable within cylindrical guides, each piston supporting a bearing for the trunnion, a fluid system for moving the pistons, for adjustment toward the trunnion, and means for securing the pistons in adjusted position.

The invention relates to an improvement in supporting means for hearings and is shown in connection with supporting means for bearing assemblies for horizontally axised rotary mills, or other machinery.

One purpose is to provide an improved shoe support and adjustment.

Another purpose is to provide improved means for raising or adjusting the shoes of a bearing assembly of a rotary axised mill, for example, under actual load conditions.

Another purpose is to provide improved raising means and improved locking means, which function with a minimum of physical WODk.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIGURE 1 is an end view of a shoe bearing assembly showing a mill trunnion supported thereon, and

FIGURE 2 is a vertical axial section, on an enlarged scale, of a trunnion shoe hydraulic adjustment.

The present invention relates to the trunnions of a rotating mill, such as a ball mill or other type or grinding or material reduction mill, for example, an autogenous mill. The trunnions are supported on each end of the mill, on a structure of the type described, and the mill may be driven in any conventional manner by means which do not form part of the present invention. A mill trunnion is indicated generally at It has an outer peripheral surface 12 which moves on the bearing shoes to be described hereinafter.

The support for the trunnion 10 may include a base 14 forming a housing and including sides 16, inner wall 18, and an outer wall 20.

In the housing of the trunnion support are a plurality of frames or supports, each of which mounts a bearing shoe. For example, as shown in FIGURE 1, there are frames 38, 40 and 42, each of which supports a bearing shoe. Frame 40 is seated on the bottom of the housing, whereas frames 38 and 42 are illustrated as supported on angular columns 39 and 43. The frames 38, 40 and 42 are identical and only one will be described in detail herein. The housing for the supports may be completed by windows 44 and 46, which are positioned so that the interior of the structure may be visible from the outside.

FIGURE 2 indicates the actual supporting structure and will be considered typical of the individual shoe supports. A bearing shoe '50 is indicated which has an outer surface 52 which will be understood to be arcuate or curved, to match the shape of the trunnion surface 12. A spacer 54, which, if desired may be sperically surfaced, has a projection 56 which fits into a relatively 3,431,034 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 shallow socket or depression 58 in the bottom of the bearing shoe 50, to interconnect the two parts. The lower surface of the spacer 54 has a spherical shape formed to conform to an upwardly concave generally spherical surface 60 formed in the top of a weight supporting socket or piston 62. The spherical surfaces allow the alignment of the bearing surface 52 with the trunnion surface 12. A guide member 64 of generally cylindrical shape is formed to receive and guide the piston member 62. Suitable sealing means 65 may be employed for preventing the passage of oil along the cylindrical surface between The members 62 and 64, The member 64 is shown as having an outwardly extending portion 66 which seats on frame portions 68 within the housing. The frame portion 68 may be supported by upwardly extending frame members 70 on each side of the bearing structure above described or may be an actual component of the bearing structure itself. Positioned to seat upon the upper surface 64a of the member 64 is an adjusting ring or nut which is in screw-threaded relationship as at 76 with an upper portion of the plunger member 62. Adjusting lugs 77 extend upwardly from the ring 75. The cylindrical member 64 has its lower end closed by an adjustable bottom plate 80. This plate is in screwthreaded relationship as at 81 with the lower portion of the inner surface of the cylindrical member 64. It may, for example, have the apertures 82 'which may receive any suitable tool whereby, under suitable circumstances, the member may be rotated for adjustment.

It will be realized that in the structure as shown in FIGURE 1, oil pressure is suitably supplied to the shoes 50. A high pressure oil line is indicated at and is connected in any suitable manner to suitable passages in the shoe 50, the details of which do not of themselves form part of the present invention. Low pressure oil is supplied to the shoe through, for example, low pressure lines 91. The details of the shoes and their pressure connections may be, for example, generally as shown in my previously issued Patent 3,258,300 of June 28, 1966. Since the details of the pressure application to the shoe do not of themselves form part of the present invention, I will not further describe them beyond saying that adequate means are provided for insuring proper lubrication for the surface of the bearing shoes which support the trunnion and also for providing a high pressure oil for use before the mill is started, and a lower pressure oil for use when the mill is rotating.

Whatever high pressure oil supply is provided, I may under some circumstances find it advantageous to use the high pressure oil of the trunnion lubrication system in connection with adjustment of the shoes. Thus I illustrate in FIGURE 2 any suitable line which may extend to the norm-a1 source of high pressure employed. Oil under substantial pressure may, therefore, be admitted through the duct 101 in the bottom plate 80 and into the space 102 between the members 62 and 80. The seal 65 prevents passage of oil upwardly along the cylindrical bearing surfaces between 62 and 64, and the result of the admission of high pressure liquid through the ducts 100 and 101 is to lift the plunger 62 and with it the supporting member 54 and the shoe 50, and the ring 75. Assuming that the member 62 has been elevated adequately to position the shoe 50 as desired, the ring 75 will have been released from hearing contact with the upper surface 64a of the member 64. A suitable tool 3 tion to the bottom of the member 62 to act as a lock nut if desired.

It is further understood that I may desire to provide means for elevating the member 62 by pressures independent of the normal oil or lubricating system of the crusher. I, for example, illustrate in FIGURE 2 a fitting 110 which is adapted to receive a pressure duct at 111 which may be secured to any suitable source of pressure, for example, a manually or mechanically operated pump which may be portable if desired and may be applied as necessary. It is understood that a suitable fitting may be employed which will interrupt the connection with the normal lubricating oil pressure system. It is also understood that as desired the duct or pipe 100 may be removed or omitted by the removal of the fitting 100a, and any suitable pump connection may be directly applied to the lower end of the passage 101 of the plate 80.

It will be realized that whereas I have described and shown a practical and operative device, nevertheless many changes may be made in sizes, shape, number and disposition of parts and in the application of the adjusting system. Whereas I have shown it as applied to the support of the trunnions of a rotating ball mill, it may be applied to other mills, or for other purposes. What is important is that I have provided ready means for elevating a supporting part to a position where an adjustment may be made and for returning it, after adjustment, to a normal supported and supporting position.

The use and operation of the present invention are follows:

Referring to FIGURE 2, which shows the details involved, the member 75 may be properly described as a locking and supporting nut. The length of the thread of the nut must be sufiicient to support the total load. In normal position it transfers the load of the shoe to the cylinder or socket guide 64. The outside of the nut 75 can be marked by division lines in such fashion that a known amount of rotation will be understood to give a specific up or down movement for shoe adjustment. It is difiicult to show these particular marks in the drawings, but it will be understood that any suitable calibration may be employed for this purpose with proper marks, for example, on the members 66 and 75, to guide the operator to make the desired up or down movement of the piston or support 62.

The bottom plate or cylinder head 80 also serves as a backing for the spherically socketed piston 62. The threads at 81 must also be cap-able of supporting the total shoe load which occurs when the high pressure fluid is used to raise the piston 62.

It is to be understood that the high pressure line 100 may if desired be connected with the oil and lubricating system pump. However, it will be understood that only when a shoe adjustment is required is there any need for a liquid connection for the duct 101. Where a constant connection, such as the pipe 100 is used, a suitable fitting, shown diagrammatically at 110, normally closes the duct 100 but may be opened to permit the entry of the high pressure liquid to raise the piston 62. Likewise the passage 100 may be dispensed with, or only connected when adjustment is needed. To indicate various possibilities I have shown the high pressure inlet 111 which may be applied to or through the fitting 110 and may be connected to any suitable pump or outside source of pressure. Or, a simple closure may be provided at 100a, which can be removed to permit the connection of any suitable pressure pipe or conduit extending to any suitable pump. The use of a separate pump, and its connection only when adjustment is required, has the advantage of not causing any leaks of pressure in the lubricating system. Such leaks should be avioded at all costs.

When the piston or support 62 has been raised, the supporting nut 75 can be moved, for example, by tapping on the lugs 77. And, of course, the bottom plate 80 can be moved, after pressure release, to back up the piston,

by insertion of suitable tools into the apertures 82.

It will be understood that my invention may have a wide range of uses, of which supporting mill trunnions is but one. Likewise, it will be realized that while a spherical seat may be advantageous, the shoe may be made pivotal or movable in other manners, for example, by the use of rockers. Whatever the use, however, I find it highly advantageous to provide a simple means for raising the supporting element, for providing an adjustment and for returning the supporting element back to its initial position, after the adjustment has been made, while preferably permitting the support to adapt itself to the shape or contour of the supported article.

Basically, I provide, as shown in detail in FIGURE 2, a self-contained jack, It should be kept in mind that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example, under some circumstances, something other than a self-contained jack may be used. It will be understood, also, that the piping shown in FIGURE 2 may be varied if necessary to make it easy to turn the nut with the piping in place. For example, it may be made in flexible tubing with a swivel connection in order to accommodate both the rotation and the vertical travel of the lower support member '80. Other possible variations will occur to a reader. It should be kept in mind that the invention has its greatest application on heavily loaded bearings where a conventional jack screw arrangement for supporting the shoes is impractical because of the tremendous torques necessary to turn the screw. It has been illustrated in connection with the support of the trimnion bearing of a large mill, but this is to be taken as illustrative rather than as limiting the application of the invention.

'It will also be understood that whereas, in FIGURE 2, I show a single seal 65, any suitable seal means may be employed to prevent leakage past the screwthreads 76 and 81.

I claim:

1. In an adjustable support for bearings and the like, a base, an upright guide sleeve supported in the base, a socketed support member axially adjustable in the guide, a weight supporting means movably seated in the socket of said support member, whereby to adapt itself to the surface of a supporting object, an adjusting nut in screwthreaded relation with an upper portion of the support member, and adapted normally to rest gravitally upon an upper portion of the guide, an adjustable bottom abutment for the lower end of the guide adapted to form, with the walls of the guide, a space in which the support member is adjust-able, said bottom abutment being likewise screwthreadedly adjustable in relation to the guide, whereby to support the lower end of the support member throughout a substantial range of adjustment, means for rotating the adjusting nut in relation to the support member, and means for rotating the bottom abutment in relation to the guide, whereby to provide support for the piston at various positions of adjustment.

2. -In an adjustable support for bearings and the like, a cylindrical guide and means for supporting it, said guide being open at each end, a load supporting piston formed and adapted to support a load directed against its upper end, said piston being constituted by a mass of metal slidable within said guide, a bottom head for said guide having an exterior screw-thread conforming to an interior screw-thread in a lower part of the guide, the upper part of the piston having an exterior screwthread extending beyond the guide, a nut normally abutting the upper end of the guide, said nut having an interior thread conforming to the exterior thread of the upper part of the piston, means for admitting a fluid under pressure between the head and the lower end of the piston, whereby to elevate the piston in the guide, said nut being rotatable in relation to the piston whereby, after the piston has been elevated, to return the nut into abutting contact with the upper end of the guide, the head being rotatable within the lower end of the guide, whereby to put its upper surface into contact with the lower end of the piston, after the piston is in adjusted position.

3. The structure of claim 2 characterized by the provision of a plurality of adjustable supports for a bearing, the axis of each such support conforming generally to a radius of such bearing, said axes lying generally in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the bearing, there being provided a bearing shoe between each such support and the bearing, and a ball-and-socket connection between each such bearing shoe and one of the load supporting pistons.

4. The structure of claim 2 characterized by the provision of indexing means bet-ween nut and cylinder for indicating to an observer the obtained position of the piston in response to a predetermined movement of the nut.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,503,659 4/1950 Curtis 254-93 2,802,635 8/1957 Engelbart 254-93 X 2,819,873 1/1958 Pearne 248354 X 3,160,450 12/1964 Gentiluomo 308-160 3,073,035 1/1963 Thomason 248226 X 3,258,300 6/1966 Saunders 177l5l X ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

I. FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

